Intro to the Shack Tactical ArmA Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

The more you know

I'd like to take a few moments here to explain how this guide came to be, who will benefit from it, what my intent in making it was, and various other relevant things. First, as a bit of an attention-getter, here's a preview trailer I created in April for ArmA: Combat Operations.

Next up, a few words from Marek Španěl, CEO of Bohemia Interactive, about this guide. This article made the rounds at Bohemia Interactive prior to its release, and I was fortunate enough to get a few words from the head man himself regarding it.

"In our debut PC title Operation Flashpoint and now after a few years in ArmA, we tried to deliver a complex tactical experience, and this guide provides the best summary and advice how to play it in such manner and not only as just another first person shooter. We focused very much on many aspects of simulation that may not be obvious instantly and it's great to see this explanatory and informative resource. This guide also does great job in staying in the boundaries of tactical computer gaming and does not try just to repeat excerpts of real world field manuals which are not always so valuable in the realm of tactical gaming. It is definitelly the most comprehensive overview of various aspects of the simulation provided in ArmA published to date and we at Bohemia Interactive are delighted to see it published just in time for the imminent US release of ArmA."

My intent in writing this was to provide a comprehensive tactical virtual warfighting guide that would both serve as doctrine for the Shack Tactical group as well as act as a general tactical resource for other groups to learn from and adapt as they see fit. While this was written with Armed Assault (aka "ArmA: Combat Operations" in the US) in mind, many elements are relevant and applicable to other tactical games.

Weighing in at over 60,000 words, there is no question that this is a large guide. I understand that it may not be feasible to go through the whole thing in one sitting, so if necessary, bookmark it and go through it at your leisure. I spent a good amount of time linking up the document to ensure that smooth navigation is possible from index to section, and I hope that it helps to make it easier to find topics both on your initial and subsequent viewings of this.

Real Life vs Gaming

My primary goal for this guide was to develop material that was relevant to Shack Tactical's style of realistic combat simulation, things that we could apply in our day-to-day gaming, without introducing elements that were extraneous "tactical fluff" that had no relevance to gaming.

One common pitfall I have noticed in other "tactical guides" for realistic games is that many people tend to recite military publications and field manuals verbatim without trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are a great many things that can be learned from such field manuals, but at the same time, the fidelity of our simulations is nowhere near high enough to make it all relevant. Even when something is relevant, it typically must be modified and adapted for use in even a highly realistic combat simulation. I believe that recognizing this and working with it as the most basic guideline is essential to producing useful tactical material.

With that being said, military field manuals and publications can be very interesting reads for people who are into this kind of realism. With this in mind, I have provided download links for many of the most applicable field manuals. These are entirely optional, but if you are curious on how the real military does things, or want to know more about a specific subject, I encourage you to download them and check them out.

Another thing that must be kept in mind is that the kind of missions most commonly found in games like ArmA, in the real world, require a massive amount of planning and preparation by well-trained professional military personnel well before the first shot is ever fired. The goal of groups like mine is to be able to play to the best of our ability without requiring such huge time-sinks in the pre-mission planning - basically, we want to get the best results we can without having to spend hours in advance planning out each operation. Planning is great, but we strive to keep the initial planning short and sweet - minutes at most - and further develop our plans as we carry out the mission. As the saying goes, "No plan survives first contact".

About Shack Tactical

For those of you reading this who are not familiar with my group, Shack Tactical, and would like a bit of information about us and how this document is tied to us, read on.

Shack Tactical is a gaming group I run that focused on Operation Flashpoint in the past and is focusing on Armed Assault in the present and future.

The basic guiding principle is that we are interested in developing and maintaining a mature yet fun group that has a common interest in realistic tactical combat simulation. I'm sure that many people reading this are familiar with some of our "After Action Reports" and have seen videos of our sessions. If you have not and are interested, you can find the AARs on my articles page, and the videos on my Google Video account.

Our most valuable experiences in Operation Flashpoint came about because of an excellent mod called "Wargames League". This was our mod-of-choice once we discovered it, as it allowed for a great many tactical possibilities that were not really possible in other mods, or the base game. It was able to do something truly incredible - not only did it increase the overall level of realism and intensity, but it managed to do so while still being a hell of a lot of fun.

Firefights lasted longer and were more intense, the wounding mechanisms were enhanced (with things like bleeding and bandaging being introduced), the AI fought more intelligently without resorting to pin-point sniper-like accuracy... all in all it was an accumulation of hundreds of tweaks, fixes, and features that ended up being more than the sum of it's parts. It redefined how we played the game.

At the time of this writing, ShackTac has played the Wargames League mod for just shy of one year. Over that year, we've evolved quite a bit. All of it has been based upon experience in the game. I have tried hard to avoid introducing elements that are not truly necessary, or would over-complicate things and cause a negative impact on the overall enjoyment of what at the end of the day is ultimately a game.

We are not soldiers (though some of us, like myself, have served in the military in the past), and we do not pretend to be. We do, however, enjoy fighting as a cohesive, skilled, and tactically knowledgeable group of like-minded gamers.

This "TTP" (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) was created to help further our gaming experiences as well as introduce them to the general public, in the hope that it may have even a tiny positive impact on the overall tactical gaming community.

I hope that you all enjoy the material that is presented within this guide. Many ShackTac members contributed valuable input to it, and as I said, it would not have been possible without the experiences of the group as a whole this past year.

I also hope also that everyone who reads this gives the Advanced Combat Environment mod for Armed Assault a shot when it comes out. "ACE" is the successor to "Wargames League", and I anticipate that it will redefine combat in ArmA the same way that WGL did in OFP.

Closing Notes

Before we move into the meat of the TTP, here are a few notes to close off the intro.

ShackTac will be putting a "Lessons Learned" page into action in the future to help us easily write up small tidbits of information discovered via virtual combat. The placeholder Lessons Learned page can be found here, but it may not be active for a month or so.

The distinction between tactics applicable vs AI and tactics vs humans are not generally made within this TTP. Some tactics the AI obviously will not utilize or appropriately react to, whereas human opponents will frequently do them. To keep things simple, this TTP is written to the higher level - meaning, these tactics are not "gamey" ones that exploit the AI, but rather tactics which can be effectively used in a player-vs-player environment. It never hurts to assume that the enemy is smarter than they may be, just to be on the safe side.

Some of the tactics in this guide are based off of experiences with more realistic Operation Flashpoint mods, and may not come into full effect in ArmA until mods like the "Advanced Combat Environment" one come out.

Screens from Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2) are used in a few sections of this TTP. VBS2 is based off of ArmA's engine and features vehicles, weapons, and other elements not found in ArmA. I included screens (which are clearly labeled as VBS2 screens) from it to show off vehicles or situations that are not present in ArmA currently but will be modeled by the community in short order.

By the same token, there are text references to vehicles that may not be in ArmA at the moment. However, it is without question that they will be added by the community in the future, so I included them here for the sake of completeness. Examples are the Bradley IFVs, LAVs, and AAVs.

There are many good ideas that are applicable to real-world combat or slower, more methodical turn-based gaming that do not lend themselves to practical implementation with large groups. I have made every effort to present the various tactics in a way that makes them approachable to even moderately skilled groups.

If you enjoy this guide, please take a moment to Digg it via this link.

Dedication

This guide is dedicated in memory of Andrew "Harkov" Olimpiew. Harkov was a notable member of the Shacknews.com community who died in August of 2005. He was a great person to play with in all manner of games, or chat with on the Shack forums, and was looking forward to playing with the (as-yet-unnamed) Shack OFP group just prior to his death. The loss we as a community felt at his passing was immense, and I still find myself wondering what might have been if only he hadn't died when he did.

As I said, this guide is dedicated in his memory. I'd rather he was still around to join us in ArmA, but this will have to do instead.

Harkov, you are not forgotten.

Click on the picture for a memorial page

Recommended Mods

Armed Assault, like Operation Flashpoint, shines brightest when combined with quality user-made content, and when played with good groups of like-minded players. In this section I've listed a few of the mods I'm most looking forward to, with a bit of information about each, as well as some information about TacticalGamer.com for those of you interested in finding a mature group of people to play with in ArmA (and other games, for that matter).

Advanced Combat Environment

Advanced Combat Environment () is a mod in progress for Armed Assault that is being done by the core crew that was responsible for the excellent Wargames League (WGL) mod for Operation Flashpoint (OFP). This will undoubtably become the primary mod that Shack Tactical uses in the future - the level of enjoyable realism present in WGL was second-to-none and redefined how we played, and ACE appears set to take this even further.

There are many exciting teamwork- and gameplay-enhancing features planned for ACE, and as I said above, I highly encourage all ArmA players to check it out upon release and follow the development of it. It should be the mod-of-choice for any groups interested in increasing their realism, teamwork, and gameplay at the same time.

Here is what Phaeden, one of the core ACE developers, has to say about the mod:

ACE is a full conversion modification for Armed Assault. The overarching philosophy of ACE is to provide its users with a combat simulation that is both realistic and enjoyable. Our primary mission is to create a wide variety of real world weapons, vehicles, equipment, and tactics so that those playing the ACE mod will be able to better simulate combined arms combat on a modern battlefield. ACE is designed from the bottom up with the goal of encouraging its users to employ real world tactics and strategy (fighting as a team) in order to accomplish realistic military objectives. We strive to create hyper-realism without losing sight that the mod must be playable by the "advanced" user. Our focus is not only on creating coding and scripting which highlights realism but on creating realistic missions on which one may experience the full spectrum of virtual combat.

For the record, this guide is very much oriented towards the WGL/ACE style of gameplay. ShackTac's evolution has been heavily influenced by WGL, and we would not be where we are now - and this guide would not have been written - if not for what WGL gave us in OFP. I expect even better from ACE in ArmA.

December 24th, 2008: ACE Is out! Check the top of the page, or the root of my site, for more info & links.

Chain of Command

The Chain of Command mod group is involved with creating realistic mods that make it possible to have large-scale, authentic combat the likes of which would otherwise not occur in OFP or ArmA. Their Command Engine allows for massive forces to be easily controlled and ordered around the battlefield, while their Unified Artillery permits realistic artillery support to be used in support of the battles.

CoC is a top-notch mod team that produces high-quality work, and I highly recommend their work. A close eye should be paid to them in ArmA, both because of what we know they'll be releasing, but also because there will doubtlessly be new projects springing up from them and their past performance tells us that anything with the CoC behind it is going to be high-quality material well worth checking out.

Unified Artillery

The CoC Unified Artillery mod for OFP introduced full ballistically-modeled artillery and was the most fully-realized and authentic artillery that was ever created in OFP. It's no surprise that they were involved in the creation of an artillery system for the military version of OFP, known as "Virtual Battlespace 1".

CoC's Unified Artillery for Armed Assault is something I am looking forward to seeing, and I have no doubt that we'll be integrating it into our future missions wherever possible.

If you would like to read about the OFP version of CoC:UA, I wrote an article about it once upon a time that you can find here.

Command Engine

The Chain of Command's Command Engine for ArmA is a series of scripts that can be integrated into any mission to add a Command & Control (aka "C2") interface that functions much like your typical RTS interface. This can be used to pass move orders, set rules of engagement, and keep track of the situation as it develops. The CoC CE will be integrated into our future missions anywhere that it is appropriate, and it should do a great deal to make the job of the Platoon Commander easier. I will have a more in-depth writeup on how to best utilize it in the future, once ShackTac has had time to become familiar with it and the power it brings us.

Other?

It's reasonable to guess that the CoC team has more up their sleeve for ArmA. Only time will tell as to what it is, but there's one thing I'm confident of - whatever it may be, it will be useful for ShackTac's style of gameplay, it will be high-quality and extremely functional on release, and it'll live up to the standards set by their previous work.

Ballistic Addon Studios

The Ballistic Addon Studios mods for OFP were some of the first I played with in a multiplayer environment. They have a special place in my OFP memories because of that, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with for Armed Assault.

To that end, I asked Fer, of BAS2, to write a bit about BAS2 (the ArmA reassembling of the team) and BAS' history for this article. The following two sections, "About BAS" and "BAS f", are from him.

About BAS

Ballistic Addon Studios (BAS) is one of the oldest and best-known OFP addon-making teams (it was never a 'mod' in the traditional sense). During the OFP era BAS set very high standards for addon quality and functionality, pioneering features such as fast-roping from helicopters and high-dispersion (HD) ammunition.

The majority of OFP addons produced by BAS represented US Special Forces (Deltas, Rangers, and specially-adapted SF versions of helicopters such as the Blackhawk, Pavehawk, Chinook and Littlebird). BAS also produced the popular 'Tonal' pack, a new island in an Indian Ocean setting with completely new units and weapons for all sides. Key community standards such as JAM also orginated from BAS. Shortly after the release of VBS1, BAS announced its withdrawl from OFP addon development.

Now reformed for ArmA, BAS (now known as BAS2) is set to reprise its role as a pioneering team. Since reforming, BAS2 has announed that it will not just focus on the development of addons, but will be equally concerned with supporting mission-making and other aspects of the community. Also on the cards is a re-make or sequel to 'Tonal'.

BAS f

The first BAS2 project for ArmA, BAS f is a mission development framework aimed at newcomers to mission editing. The framework is an MP mission folder containing a library of scripts, functions and template files, plus an illustrated manual. These components are designed to provide the mission designer, after minimal additional configuration, with a selection of pre-tested features and functionality intended to improve the overall quality and re-playability of his/her mission.

Finnish Defence Forces

FDF for Operation Flashpoint was one of the most highly-polished and comprehensive mods to ever come out for the game. It had everything - entirely new units (and LOTS of them), new islands (and very, very high quality ones at that), new sounds, voices, gameplay tweaks, and more. It was a fantastic example of the kind of quality that the community was capable of producing, and it is one of the projects for ArmA I am most looking forward to seeing come out. These guys are worth watching - they've already put out a very solid sound pack for ArmA, and there's no doubt going to be a slew of quality addons coming from them in the future.

Tactical Gamer

Tactical Gamer is a community based around mature, teamwork-oriented multiplayer gaming in a wide variety of games. They support pretty much everything, and are a community that I have enjoyed interacting with in various games in the past. Most recently I've played Battlefield 2's "Project Reality" mod extensively on their server, as well as Armed Assault. I mention them here because they strike me as a good place for people who are interested in the kind of teamwork and gameplay that this guide talks about to head for some gaming. Feel free to visit them in the future in ArmA. Click on the banner to visit their primary site - information about their ArmA server can be found in the forum section bearing that title.

Controls

How to make sense of the keybinds

ArmA Keybind Possibilities

The most intimidating initial thing you'll run into with ArmA is the sheer number of binds there are, along with the unavoidable fact that the ArmA keybind system leaves a bit to be desired at least as far as key organization goes.

ArmA sports quite a few binds that were not present in Flashpoint, and fortunately it has some neat ways to deal with the added keys - these are key combos, double-tap keys, and press-and-hold keys.

The biggest feature of the keybind system is that ArmA allows any keys to be tied together into a bind. For instance, you can have A+S do something, A+D do something else, double-tap A, or ctrl-doubletap-A do something else entirely, and so on. This is extremely useful due to the number of commands that are available in the game.

The mouse keys can also have different functions based on whether they're held down or not, with the caveat that this can cause a slight delay with the action due to the game having to detect that you're holding down the key versus just tapping it.

Double-tapping keys is another welcome feature that allows for two functions to share the same key, with one of them being activated by a 'normal' key press, and the other only occuring when the key is double-tapped.

Also, in ArmA, unlike OFP, the size of the "float zone" is configurable. The "float zone" is their term for freeaim, which is the amount of movement you get with your weapon before your view starts to move. You can now adjust how big you want the freeaim box to be, or if you even want it at all. Disabling it can be helpful to new players who've never played a freeaim game before.

Keybind suggestions

There are some useful ways to combine logical functionality into your keybind system.

Bind a key to function as "Scoreboard" in MP, then bind that same key to bring up the player list if you double-tap it

Bind Left Control + W to do an "Evasive Forward". This allows you to quickly come up from the prone and go into a forward sprint immediately.

Bind a key to "GPS" and then bind the "toggle GPS" to CTRL plus the normal GPS key.

Bind a key that when double-tapped will eject you from a vehicle. This will be a godsend any time you need to get out in a hurry and can't spend time fiddling with the action menu. I use Ctrl+2xE for this.

Bind your Prone/Crouch keys (or Stance Up, Stance Down, the way I do it) to act as Flaps Up/Flaps Down when combined with CTRL.

Evasive Forward in action

Last Words

Due to the number of keys in ArmA, it may take a bit to figure out an ideal key setup. However, once you get to that point, I think that you'll be impressed by how much added functionality and ease-of-use exists thanks to the new key options.

The Environment

First things first.

Let's take a look at the environment next, with an eye turned towards the things that are tactically significant concerning it.

ArmA's environment is modeled with a level of fidelity that many other games lack - you'll find a full day-night cycle complete with accurate shadowing, accurately modeled starscapes, moon phases, tides, varied foliage, insects, birds, wind, varied weather (wind, rain, lightning, storms), grass - all of it, and more, which comes together to form a virtual world that can exist in many varied states which can have dramatic influences on the tactical gameplay that occurs within it.

In no particular order, let's move on to some of the more prominent tactical aspects of the ArmA environment.

HDR

High Dynamic Range rendering (HDR) is used to good effect in ArmA. HDR helps to simulate the reaction of the human eye to bright light sources or dimly lit areas - for instance, your eyes will slowly adjust to a dark room once you enter it, and the light of a mid-day sun will temporarily blind you if you stare directly at it.

From a tactical standpoint, there are several key areas where HDR must be paid particular attention to.

When the sun is low on the horizon. If the sun is low, it can be taken advantage of when attacking the enemy or as a defender. Troops that are assaulting a position in which the sun is in their face will be able to see less clearly and will generally be less effective. On the other hand, defending against an enemy that is attacking into the sun is a great bonus, as the enemy will be well-illuminated and you will be hard to see.

The early morning sun greets a sniper perched above the battlefield

As an aircraft. When it comes time to attack ground targets, attacking out of the sun will help to mask your approach and make it harder for the enemy to effectively engage you.

At night. Bright lights will dampen your biological nightvision for a short period of time. This can be caused by headlights blinding you, flares popping in the sky, removing your NVGs in the dark, and the flash of lightning. It is likely that mods like ACE will take this a step further and increase the amount of time it takes for your vision to recover from a bright light in the darkness.

Grass

One of the most obvious visual upgrades in ArmA comes in the form of grass, grass which becomes a major consideration in any area that sports it. The main things to remember about it are as follows.

Grass will restrict your visibility substantially when prone. Because of this, you will need to take a higher posture (ie crouched) in many situations to see and fire with accuracy. Some of the Sahrani grass is taller than other stuff (ie the woodland grass is typically thick and tall, the scrub grass is thinner and shorter).

Grass will flatten in a small radius around you if you go prone. This can help you fire over crests of ridges, since the grass on the ridgetop will flatten and you'll have a clear vantage.

Grass renders out to around 30-40 meters by default, but it's concealing effects are not limited to this range. At around 30 meters, a "grass overlay layer" will show up that is raised the same amount above the ground as the grass.
This will make it so that things like mines and satchels will not be visible at range, and everything else (ie humans) will appear to be "sunken" into the ground a bit.

Dead SLA troops lie in the grass where they fell

Grass can be stripped off the ground by explosions relative to the power of the explosive. The grass will stay stripped even after the impact "decal" fades away. Tanks can exploit this to expose hidden mines - firing an AT round at a patch of terrain suspected of being mined may expose a few mines in the area where the grass was stripped.

A satchel charge crater, with the resulting absence of grass

Environmental Destruction

Pretty much every single building, tree, fence, or other object that could conceivably be destroyed in reality can be destroyed in ArmA. Walls can be knocked down, trees can be overturned, and buildings can be reduced to rubble.

This is a major tactical element of MOUT (Military Operations in Urbanized Terrain) combat in particular, and all players should recognize the fact that being behind a wall, or in a house, does not necessarily make them safe.

It is entirely likely that future ArmA mods will introduce some form of dynamic building destruction.

Night Time Visibility & The Moon

ArmA sports several welcome improvements to the way night time visibility is modeled. The things that impact nighttime visibility are as follows.

The phase of the moon. A full moon will provide a great amount of light, whereas a sliver will do little to light up the night landscape.

The following two screens show off what the landscape looks like with the moon having dipped below the horizon (on the left) and with a full moon high in the sky (on the right). Note how much can be clearly seen with the full moon up.

The position of the moon in the sky. The higher in the sky the moon is, the more it will light up the terrain. If the moon is low in the sky, it will provide less light and will also cause objects to be illuminated on one side yet pitch-black on the other side. This can be taken advantage of similar to the way that the sun's HDR effects can in the day - if you attack the enemy with a full moon low in the sky at your back, they will see nothing but black shapes rushing at them, whereas you will see their bodies illuminated by moonlight.

Note that in v1.05 of ArmA a change was made that lets the moon's position cast shadows on the terrain. These illustrations do not show that off due to them having been created in an earlier version, but you can get a comparison of how the old version looks compared to the new from these two recent shots: Old, no moon-cast shadows. New, moon-cast shadows. It's quite a dramatic difference, as you can see. .

The weather. If it's a cloudy sky, a full moon will have little effect. A clear sky, on the other hand, might make even a half-moon have some effect. Lightning storms provide plenty of illumination, but they are unpredictable and each flash will last for only a moment or two.

Day/Night Cycle

ArmA's day/night cycle happens in realtime and covers the full spectrum of day, dusk, night, and dawn. Shadows shift based upon the position of the sun (or, at night, the moon) in the sky as well. Towns and villages will also light up at night via streetlights, lighthouses, etc.

The tactical significance of this is that a mission can take place at any time, and the time will progress during the mission itself. Thus, a battle that starts at dusk can very well rage on into twilight and finally night.

Missions that take advantage of this element of the game can be quite interesting - for example, a mission that would take advantage of this would be one where a small team of special forces soldiers is trying to exfiltrate out of an enemy area in the last minutes before dawn. The enemy would be without nightvision devices and would have to rely on the light of the moon (and flares) until the sun breaks the horizon. The SF soldiers would have to try to put as much distance between themselves and the enemy before the light came, at which point the dynamics of the mission would change dramatically.

There are countless great mission concepts that can take advantage of the realtime (or accelerated, if desired) day/night cycle, not to mention the variety that comes from being able to set a mission to occur at any time during the day or night. You can even have this be a selectable option for the mission, so that the players can decide on the mission time before starting the mission, adding that much more replayability to it.

The Weather

Cloud Cover

Cloud cover softens the environment's appearance. Shadows become muted or disappear completely, leaving the world less defined than with a normal amount of sunlight. Picking out targets can become a bit more difficult in overcast weather due to the lack of shadows and an increased ability for people to "blend in" to the visually subdued environment.

Rain / Storms

While it does rain in ArmA, the rain has little significance by itself. It does little to obscure vision, nothing to alter sound, and there are no movement modifiers based on whether the ground has been highly saturated or not. Still, in certain situations heavy rain combined with "rain fog" can reduce visibility a bit, and occasionally it can alter the conduct of a battle.

Lightning from storms can have an effect at night by causing brief periods of illumination. This can be helpful to any forces that are operating without nightvision goggles, and a hindrance to those that have NVGs and want to maintain stealth.

Fog

Fog's tactical significance comes in the form of how much it reduces the effective combat range of all units. Helicopters and planes are almost completely worthless in heavy fog, especially as CAS elements, and ground vehicles tend to suffer from dramatically reduced effectiveness as well. Infantry are forced to heighten their situational awareness and sharpen their vision, else they're likely to walk right into the enemy unawares. Fog also demands that all units maintain very good friend-or-foe identification to avoid fratricide (aka "friendly fire").

When all is said and done, heavy fog reduces combat to an exceptionally violent, close-range, and nerve-wracking affair. It hampers literally every facet of combat and is one of the most difficult conditions to fight in. Exceptional individual skill and team coordination is necessary to triumph in heavy fog.

Intro to Shack Tactical as a Basic Rifleman

Welcome to ShackTac. Grab a rifle and gear up.

Intro

Every player is at heart a basic rifleman first and foremost. You may want to fly planes and helos or drive tanks, but ultimately you must be familiar with life as an infantryman before you will be effective at anything else. Since every vehicle in the game is concerned directly with infantry support, it is important that all vehicle crewmen are familiar with the infantryman's life if they hope to support him properly.

The first part of being a proficient basic rifleman is knowing what your responsibilities are.

The Basic Responsibilities of a Fireteam Member

About the fireteam and your role in it

The 'Fireteam' is the smallest unit that you will see ordered around as a cohesive team on the battlefield in our sessions. Each fireteam consists of three fireteam members and one fireteam leader, and each fireteam wields a well-rounded assortment of firepower.

As a new player, you will act as a fireteam member and will be under the charge of one of our more experienced players, who will act as your fireteam leader. He in turn will be under the command of a squad leader who commands all three fireteams in his squad, who will be under the command of the Platoon Commander who will be commanding the three squads that form our platoon. There is a comprehensive writeup of the Shack Tactical Platoon Structure coming up on the next page - for now, just concentrate on your basic responsibilities as a fireteam member.

The Basic Responsibilities of a Fireteam Member

Know your squad and fireteam. In our organization, squads are lettered and fireteams numbered. More on this, and our organization in general, can be found in the Organization section of this TTP (on the next page). Remember what team and squad you are in so that voice orders relevant to you can be heard, acknowledged, and acted upon. Make sure you are familiar with your immediate element leader's voice.

Listen to your fireteam or squad leader and follow their directions. Fireteam and Squad Leaders are typically the more experienced players. Their role is to try to keep you alive and in the fight while accomplishing whatever mission the squad may be tasked with. Listen to them, stick with your fireteam/squad, and you should do just fine.

Practice fire discipline and know the "Rules of Engagement" (ROE). Do not be the one to give away a stealthy approach by accidentally firing your rifle or firing at a target without having been given clearance. Once things heat up, and the element of surprise is lost, you're free to shoot at anything that poses a threat. Until then, maintain good fire discipline.

Scan for, spot, and call out enemy contacts. Use the right-click "reveal" feature to call out targets, or do it concisely via voice. Directions (front/left/rear/right) can be used when the friendly forces are moving in a known direction and front/rear/right/left are known to everyone. Otherwise, compass directions and degree bearings should be used. More on this in the "Contact Report" section later on.

Maintain good interval with other players. Bunching up gets people killed. Keep several meters worth of interval between yourself and other players at all times.

Concisely communicate all information as rapidly as possible. Keep the chat channels uncluttered so that the leaders can communicate.

Cover your sector. 360-degree security is needed at all times. This means that with a fireteam of four, every person should be observing/covering a different area. Good security means that your team is that much less likely to be surprised by the enemy, and thus is going to survive longer in combat.

L: Sectors of observation in the urban environmentR: Same thing, but in open terrain

Maintain good situational awareness and be aware of where friendly forces are. This helps to prevent being surprised by enemy contacts, prevents friendly-fire incidents, and gives you an idea of what areas may need more observation based upon how the squad or platoon is oriented. More on this in the "Situational Awareness" section, below.

Know your target. Don't wildly shoot at everything that moves, as that tends to cause friendly fire casualties. If in doubt, don't shoot. Ask someone else in your fireteam to check out the questionable contact. Check the map to see if friendly forces are where you're looking. If you're still unsure, ask the element leader and he can take it up the chain if necessary. Once you pull the trigger, there's nothing you can do to bring that round back. Don't be the one to shoot a friendly.

Do not cross the line-of-fire of friendly units whenever possible. If you need to move past a person, always try to pass behind them. If you ever do need to move in front of someone in a combat situation, ensure that you call them by name and tell them that you're about to cross their line of fire. Do so via "Direct Speaking" VOIP when possible. Obviously common sense will dicate when this is necessary - crossing in front of someone during general movement towards an objective is not a huge deal and does not merit a call, whereas running in front of someone during a firefight can get you killed and requires coordination with whoever you need to cross in front of.

Combat Buddy Teams

Combat Buddy Team Organization & Info

Every player should move with a buddy in-game whenever feasible. This most typically is done at the fireteam level, with the fireteam leader assigning buddies. The most common pairing up is the fireteam leader with the rifleman, and the assistant automatic rifleman with the automatic rifleman.

Buddy teams allow for more accountability to occur within a fireteam and also allows for very low-level teamwork to naturally and easily happen, which helps to boost the effectiveness of a fireteam. They allow for a fireteam leader to more rapidly command his team with fewer words as well - instead of constantly referring to each individual when giving orders, he can refer to the second buddy team and simply lead his own buddy team by his actions.

Combat Buddy Team Member Responsibilities

Stick with and support your buddy. Move with them, fight with them, and cover them.

If your buddy goes down, it is your responsibility to get him out of the fight. A rapid assessment must be made as to whether he is dead or wounded, and whether the situation allows for you to safely pull him to cover. A dead teammate can wait, whereas a wounded one may need immediate attention from a medic and your action may be the deciding factor between life and death. If your buddy goes down, call out to the other fireteam buddy team and get them to cover you while you drag him to safety. Once you've made it to cover, call out to the squad medic and ensure that your buddy is treated. Depending on the situation you may want to stay to provide security to the medic or move back to the fireteam and continue fighting.

Relevant Military Pubs

Interested in reading about what real-world Marines and soldiers are expected to know from the start? Check out these publications. You will find "Relevant Military Pub" sections at the end of several parts of this TTP - they're here as entirely optional reading for those who want to know more about the real-world warfighters.

Download

Combat Skills of the Soldier US Army, FM 21-75

This manual covers all sorts of topics that Army soldiers are expected to be proficient with. It is well-illustrated, and while it isn't as comprehensive as some manuals, it is a good base-of-knowledge to work with.

Download

USMC Common Skills Handbook 1B
US Marine Corps

Basic USMC infantry information. This is a handbook that all Marines are expected to be familiar with.

Situational Awareness

See them before they see you

Situational awareness on the individual level is an important skill to posess. "Situational Awareness" is simply the act of being alert to what is happening around you, and using your knowledge of the battlefield's state to make tactical decisions and judgment calls.

Proper "SA" reduces the chances of being surprised, wounded, killed, or even of having a friendly-fire incident. It is an important skill to hone, and familiarity with what to look for can be a big help for the less-experienced players.

TrackIR

One of the major changes for situational awareness that ArmA brings is the introduction of native support for NaturalPoint's TrackIR head-tracking device. I won't waste too many words describing how it works - if you're interested, you can watch the video I've embedded here. It shows off the TrackIR4 used in ArmA - there's another video I made of helo flight with the TrackIR4 + TrackClip Pro that can be found here.

What I will say is that the TrackIR has the potential to vastly increase a player's situational awareness. Not only is it a godsend in aircraft, but it also has a very positive effect on ground vehicles and infantry. Being able to move in one direction while looking in another is something that we take for granted in reality, and in almost all games it is a very real limitation. Flashpoint allowed for us to look around via "freelook", but, alas, it was not as useful as it could have been due to there being no easy way to control it and your body at the same time.

ArmA's TrackIR support fixes all of that. It's one of the features I was most anticipating, and having played extensively with it by now, I have to say that it's well worth the investment.

What To Stay Aware Of And Look For

There are many things that a player must stay aware of and be on the lookout for during the course of a mission. I have broken these down into several groups.

General Situational Awareness

Where are friendly forces located? Knowing this will help you to pick which areas to spend your time observing, and will help to prevent friendly fire.

Where is the enemy at relative to you? What are the likely positions they will be occupying? What can you do to minimize your exposure to the enemy?

Where is the nearest medic? In a mod like ACE that models bleeding, knowing where the medic is and being able to get to him quickly can mean the difference between life and death.

Prior to combat, scan the following...

Bases of trees. Tree trunks are the most prolific cover available in the great outdoors, and many enemy ambushes will involve soldiers using trees as cover and concealment.

Shrubs and bushes, particularly on the edges. Shooting through a bush or from within one isn't always that easy. You'll often find people firing around the right side of a bush, which means from your perspective they will be on the left edge of the bush.

Rooftops near any protrusions (ie stairwells). Protruding stairwells, air vents, etc can be used as cover for anyone using a roof as a firing position.

The edges of windows. You'll hopefully spot anyone blatantly standing in a window, so that means that you should focus your attention on scanning the edges to ensure that noone is 'tucked-in' to the window.

Knocked-down trees, bushes, fences, etc. If the enemy has vehicles they may accidentally run down trees, bushes, orother obstacles and give away where they've been. The enemy may also knock down trees and then use them as concealment.

In combat, look for...

Muzzle flashes (particularly at night), muzzle smoke. You may not always see the precise outline of an enemy, but that big puff of smoke and dust (in the day) or flash of flame (at night or in low light situations) that keeps popping up from the same location over and over again, coinciding with bullets landing nearby, can act as a great indicator to where the enemy is located.

Tracers (follow them back and voila, enemy!). Tracers are brilliant neon signs that say "I'm firing from over here!". These are the most visible signs of the enemy, and the easiest to trace back to the shooter's origin. Note that in mods like ACE, not all weapons will fire tracer rounds.

Smoke. If the enemy fires an RPG or similar, you'll be able to pick out their position by the large volume of smoke produced by the launch. You may also see the enemy using smokescreens to mask their movement - typically, a cloud of smoke created in such a fashion is a giant "SHOOT ME" sign, since it's most likely being used to conceal the enemy's movement.

Dead enemies. This is particularly useful if contact was made with the enemy by another element, or by CAS/artillery. Dead enemy soldiers can give you an idea of where the enemy was, what they were (i.e. special forces, normal troops, etc) and even where they may still be.

After combat, whether the enemy has fled or has been defeated, or after coming upon the scene of dead enemies...

Watch for satchel charges or other explosives that could have been set on a timer or may be command-detonated. If you see any, immediately announce it to your element leader and vacate the area. Satchel charges can be hidden in grass and can be very hard to pick out. Keep good interval when clearing enemy bodies to avoid a hidden satchel causing multiple casualties. If possible, avoid sending more than one or two people to check out enemy bodies to begin with.

Check what weapon systems have been left behind if the enemy retreated. If they abandoned valuable weapons like RPGs, anti-aircraft missiles, machineguns, crew-served weapons, etc, they are probably disorganized and should be pursued if tactically feasible.

Check for any stray blood trails. If there isn't a body at either end of the blood trail, the odds are high that someone survived and snuck away. Stay on the alert in this case.

Other Situational Awareness Tips

Check the Map Frequently

The map is used by our group to mark enemy contacts, and thanks to our platoon structure and how it is displayed in-game, the positions of friendly squads and fireteams can also be seen on the map. Ensure that you check it frequently to keep up-to-date on suspected enemy positions as well as friendly positions.

Note also that enemy infantry spotted within your group will show up on the map, but that other groups will not necessarily see them. If you spot an enemy and locate it on your map, ensure that you place an "ei" marker over it (in "Side" mode) so that the entire platoon can see the position.

Avoid Tunnel Vision

In addition to everything else, remember that you must strive at all times not to fall into a state of "tunnel vision". This occurs when a player gets so fixated on a specific target or object/area that they neglect to stay aware of the "big picture". Remember that for every enemy you see, there are probably three or four (or more) others that you do not. Fixating on a single enemy at the expense of everything else is likely to get you flanked and killed. Stay alert and aware and you will greatly increase your odds of survival.

Peripheral Vision Indicators

ArmA implements a system to try to simulate the fact that real people have a much wider field of view than you typically get in a game. To this end, BIS has implemented "Peripheral Vision Indicators" (or PVIs) that show up on the edge of the screen when units are in your peripheral vision but are not showing up in your rendered vision. The PVIs take the form of small, semi-transparent dots on the edge of the screen corresponding to the direction of the person/vehicle represented by said PVI. A red dot is an enemy, a green one is a friend, and a grey one is typically a neutral or empty vehicle.

PVIs will not show up when using anything that obscures your field of view, such as the nightvision goggles or magnified rifle scopes.

Friend or Foe Identification

Being able to visually differentiate between friends and foes is a critical skill to have. Someone who cannot tell the difference is a danger to their entire team.

There are several guidelines that can be followed to help prevent friendly fire incidents.

Think before you pull the trigger. If it looks like a friend, has a friendly weapon, isn't shooting at you, but seems like it's in an enemy area... it may be a friend.

If in doubt, don't fire. Ask a teammate or your team leader to check out a suspected enemy if necessary. People with optics (ie ACOG rifle scopes, binoculars, etc) can be great help in ID'ing potential enemies.

Stay alert as to where friendly forces are located, and communicate your location to others when necessary.

The colors of tracers and the sounds of the weapons being used can help to ID the enemy, but bear in mind that over the course of a mission friendly forces may acquire enemy weapons and thus it becomes less and less accurate as a mission progresses. Also, intelligent enemies may acquire friendly weapons from casualties and use them in the hopes that they will sow confusion amongst their enemies.

Basic Personnel Identification

These illustrations should help for basic identification of US (top) and North Sahrani (bottom) personnel.

South Sahrani troops are decked out in desert camo and are pretty easy to distinguish from their US and North Sahrani counterparts.

Wounds & What to Do

Don't die on us

You will be shot eventually. When that time comes, there are a few important things to remember, and the more knowledge you have, the more likely that you'll survive to fight on.

Wound Effects

First I'll cover the symptoms of wounds in both 'vanilla' ArmA and ACE.

ArmA Wound Effects

In un-modded ArmA, being wounded has two side-effects, depending on the severity and location of the wound. You will almost always find your aim to be very jittery and unstable, with the amount varying somewhat based upon how badly you've been hit. In addition to that, if you're hit in the legs, you will find yourself unable to move while standing, instead being forced to crawl or briefly job before being forced back to the ground. This is relatively easy to deal with, since there's no risk of progressively declining health. In this situation, simply call for a medic when possible and get yourself patched up. Medical attention will cause both of the wound effects to go away.

ACE Wound Effects

The fun begins when you play a mod like Advanced Combat Environment, which sports a much-improved player damage system. In ACE, you will notice several additional effects:

When hit, you may lose control of your character for a moment or two, depending on the power of the round. The impact may spin you a bit as well

You may be knocked to the ground by the impact and shock of being hit, depending again on the power of the round

You may briefly white-out from the shock of the wound

You may begin to bleed from the wound. It may be a light, slow bleed or a heavy, fast bleed. You will hear a heartbeat that intensifies as you get closer to death. You will also leave a blood trail.

You will begin to black out if heavily wounded. These blackouts will increase in duration and frequency if your wound goes untended.

You will die if you are not treated and are bleeding. The speed of death will vary depending on how heavy the bleeding.

As you can see, being wounded in ACE can be a much more serious and urgent affair. Since we will be primarily playing ACE, the 'reaction to being wounded' text will be based upon it.

Note that there will be several additional features in ACE that will concern how wounds work, how they must be treated, et cetera. Since ACE is not yet out, it's impossible to write definitely on such topics, so I'll leave those for the future. All future additions will be tracked on the "Revisions" page at the end of this article, so feel free to come back and check it every few weeks for further content.

I'm hit! What do I do?

It is important that players are familiar with what is required of them if they get wounded. Being shot and confused as to what happens next can easily lead to you being shot again, bleeding to death, or generally meeting some kind of unpleasant fate. These guidelines generally apply to ACE (like the bleeding, blacking out, etc), but can be used in 'vanilla' ArmA where appropriate.

If you are shot...

Do a quick diagnosis. Are you still combat effective? If yes, fight. If not, proceed to the next step. If you get wounded, have a white-out, are knocked to the ground by the impact, and can hear your heart pounding in your ears, you're combat ineffective and need to seek treatment.

Move to cover or concealment and off the 'front line'. This will both protect you from further fire and make it easier for the medic to treat you without being shot himself.

Call out that you are wounded over the radio or with local in-game Voice-Over-IP (VOIP). Ensure that you state your name so that the medic knows who to look for. If necessary, mark your position on the map so that the medic can more easily find you.

Coordinate with the medic if necessary. He may want you to move in a specific direction or meet him halfway.

Full diagnosis. How bad is it? If you're bleeding, try to identify how severe the wound is and how urgently you'll need treatment. Heavy bleeding combined with frequent black outs will require immediate medical assistance, whereas light bleeding may give you a bit more time to get yourself treated. If you think you are critical and need urgent care, state so via voice.

Use bandages if the situation warrants. If you are lightly bleeding and have bandages, ensure that you are in cover or concealment and attempt to use them to address your wound. They may or may not work, depending on the severity of it, and it may take a few tries to stop the bleeding. Once you have stopped the bleeding, you'll be stabilized, but the 'aim waver' and leg-loss (if hit in the legs) will persist until you can find an actual medic to heal at.

Once you are in good condition, move back to your fireteam and resume combat.

Man down!

This is a placeholder section that I anticipate adding in the future once we have had time to familiarize ourselves with the Advanced Combat Environment mod for Arma. This section will cover our standard procedures for dealing with a casualty. This will not be a major gameplay element until ACE, so for now it will stay empty. Check the "Revisions & Additions" section in the future, once ACE has been out for a bit, and you're sure to see an update about this.

For now, the only thing to remember is that if a person is killed, it needs to be reported to their element leader. Thus, if your buddy goes down and is KIA, let your fireteam leader know that they're dead.

Shooting

The universal language of combat is the sharp 'CRACK!' of a rifle firing

Every ShackTac member is a basic rifleman first and foremost. You may plan to fly, or drive tanks, or act as a medic, but at the end of the day you need to know how to proficiently handle the most basic tool of the infantryman, the rifle, because there will come a time when it will be the only thing you have to save your virtual life or the virtual life of a teammate.

Tanks can get disabled. Helos can crash. Mortar teams can find themselves subject to close attack. Ditto with artillery crews. When it's down to the wire and every shot counts, don't be the one to let your teammates down with your shoddy marksmanship.

Rifle Basics

Bullet Drop & Sight Picture/Center-Mass Holds

It is important that every player master the basic rifleman skills, and to that end, be sure that you understand how to compensate for bullet drop at long range, and that you know what a proper sight picture is.
When it comes to sight pictures, you want your front sight tip to cut the target in half, and you always, always, always want to aim center-mass.

Center-of-mass holds with the M16A2, M4 w/Aimpoint, and M249

Center-mass 'holds' will allow you to reliably hit standing targets out to 300-400 meters. The smaller the target, the more likely that you'll have to apply offset aim techniques to get your rounds to hit. This is simply aiming over your target if you're shooting low, or to the side if the round is landing beside it.

Weapon Sights

Ironsights - Ironsighted weapons are the most common you will encounter. The ironsights tend to obscure a portion of your view when aiming with them, which is their primary drawback. Remember that if your front sight tip is not centered in the rear sight aperture, the bullet impact will be off in the direction that the FST (front sight tip) is relative to the rear sight aperture.

Reflex Sights (non-magnified) - Reflex optics like the Aimpoint CompM2 and EOTech HWS are designed to be faster and more accurate in your average combat engagement than the equivalent ironsight would be. While ArmA does not model all of the things that make this true in reality, it does model the increased visible area one receives when using a reflex optic. Thanks to there being no front/rear sight to obscure the area around the target, reflex sights can be quickly adjusted to account for the fall of the bullet (due to the impact being clearly visible through them). Reflex optics tend to be zeroed for around 300 meters, and one must simply place the dot or reticule over the target and fire. Reflex optics are superb for MOUT and CQB.

An Aimpoint sight

Scopes (Magnified Optics) - Scopes come in a variety of magnification powers. Some are high-powered, like those found on sniper rifles, whereas others like the ACOG provide a significant zoom but still allow for a nice field-of-view. Some have adjustable zoom (i.e. sniper rifles), others are fixed-zoom (i.e. ACOG). Scopes are great for mid- and long-range work but become more of a hindrance than a help once you get to closer ranges.

The Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG)

Leading a Moving Target

Leading a moving target is something that's going to take time and practice to get the hang of, but all effort invested in it will pay off in spades the first time you hit a distant, running target with your first shot. At ranges out to around 300 yards you typically only need to lead the target by a few body widths, depending on the speed they're moving relative to you. If a target is coming directly towards or away from you, no lead is required. If they're moving at an angle to you, less lead is required. If they're sprinting perpendicular to you, you'll need to use a great deal of lead at extended ranges, and will be best off with massing fire with other friendly units to take the enemy down.

When it comes to gunning in a vehicle (such as a helo door gunner), remember that you need to lead targets based upon the direction the vehicle is moving. If you have to to traverse your weapon to the left to continue to track a target, lead the target to the left. If you have to traverse right to track, lead to the right.

Sight/Bore Offset & Ballistics

One other thing to remember is that the origin of the bullet will be from the actual weapon muzzle, and not the center of the screen as in some games. Because of this, you have to keep in mind that your weapon sights are a few inches above the rifle bore. If you do not take this into account, you will occasionally find instances where you're shooting into the ground (or an obstacle) even though your ironsights give you the impression that you have a clear line of fire.

Note that the realistic ballistics of the weapon also mean that the bullet will fly a ballistic arc that crosses your point-of-aim at two distances - one is shortly after leaving the barrel (within the first 50 yards), the other is at the range that the weapon is zeroed for.

Breath Control

ArmA introduces the ability to hold your breath to help stabilize your aim for precision shooting. Ensure that you have this bound to a readily accessible key, as it will come in handy more than a few times during every mission. Holding your breath for too long will cause your stability to degrade, so make sure you only use this when you're 90% of the way ready to take your shot.

Middle Mouse Safety

As silly as it sounds, keeping your finger "off the trigger" is a very wise thing to do in ArmA. The method I recommend is simply to keep your 'trigger finger' resting on the middle mouse button whenever you're not engaged in combat.

Not doing this in the past has cost squads the element of surprise and has resulted in some virtual casualties that never should have happened.

The more powerful the weapon, the more important it is that you heed this. Getting surprised and accidentally firing an AT4 into the ground at your feet is never a good thing.

Practicing Your Shooting Skills

An ArmA community member named Igor Drukov created an excellent weapons training facility for the game. This can be played solo (via hosting your own MP session) or as a team. The facility consists of unknown-distance shooting ranges for all of the game's small-arms as well as the anti-tank weapons. Each range has a dialog that can be used to set how many targets appear, how many shots it takes to drop them, the interval between them appearing, and so on and so forth. This facility helps to train general marksmanship as well as sector scanning, target acquisition, and rapid engagement of targets at varying ranges and levels of exposure.

To run it, simply extract the .pbo into your ArmA\MPMissions\ folder, then go to Multiplayer -> New -> Ok -> Sahrani -> Bootcamp, and hit OK.

Reloading

The act of reloading is one that many people don't put a great deal of thought into initially. However, it can easily be the difference between combat effectiveness and outright death. I've assembled various tips and bits of information here in the hopes that the knowledge will help everyone to understand just what all needs to be kept in mind when it comes to reloading.

Basic Reloading

Tactical Reload (aka "Tac-load")
A tactical reload is a reload done during a lull in the action to replace a partially-full magazine with a fresh one. You should check your magazine before doing anything dangerous (ie CQB, assaulting an objective, etc) and do a tactical reload if you have less than approximately 90% of the magazine's ammo capacity remaining. The worst sound in combat is hearing a click when you want to hear a bang.

Tactical reloads can save your ass. You never know what might be around the next corner.

Dry Reload (aka "click")
The other form of reloading is known as a "dry reload". This is a reload that is done on an empty chamber - meaning, the magazine has been completely expended. Dry reloads are completely acceptable in a great many situations - i.e. when acting as a base-of-fire element in which you're sustaining a heavy rate of fire on a distant target. However, there are certain situations in which a dry reload is to be avoided - namely, close-quarters.

Reloading Tips

Always try to reload behind cover or concealment. At the very least take a knee to reduce your profile. You cannot move while reloading, so take that into account.

In the Advanced Combat Environment mod, reload speeds are based upon your stance and weapon. Reloading a rifle while standing will be fast, whereas doing it while prone will take a bit more time. Conversely, reloading a belt-fed automatic rifle or machinegun will be slowest when standing and fastest when prone. Thus, take a stance when reloading that is appropriate to the type of weapon you're using.

Stay aware of how many partially-full magazines you have. When doing a tactical reload, the magazine will be retained for later. When reloading, your character always grabs the magazine with the most rounds, leaving the least-full magazines for last. This can result in some very unpleasant surprises if a player does not keep track of his magazines or tends to reload with only a few bullets left in each magazine. One could easily find themselves with their indicator showing three remaining magazines, yet come to find that each only has a few bullets in it. To help to prevent this, try to never do a tactical reload with less than ten rounds in the magazine if you can help it. It is better to fire those rounds off and do a dry reload than to have it come back to bite you later - additionally, a partially-full magazine takes up an inventory slot that could be better used carrying a new, fresh mag.

Know when to call out a reload or that you're out of ammo. There are certain circumstances in which a player will want to verbally call out that they're reloading their weapon. This is done based upon how significant it is - if you are just a rifleman and there's a squad-sized firefight happening, you will not need to call out that you're reloading because your weapon being down for only a few seconds will not have an influence on the fight. However, if you are providing a great deal of the firepower of a fight and have a weapon that takes a significant amount of time to reload (for instance, as the machinegunner for a fireteam that is working on its own, or as something like a Mk-19 gunner) or are a critical element (ie anti-tank or crew-served), you will probably want to give the status of your weapon so that friendly units can react accordingly. Let common sense dictate when or if you verbalize that a reload is imminent or happening.

When calling out a reload, simply state your weapon type, what you're doing, and anything your teammates should do to react to it. i.e. "Mark-19 reloading, give me some cover". Using the "Direct Speaking" VOIP will be the way to go in most situations.

Types of Fire

There are several distinct types of fire that can be utilized in ArmA. I'll cover most of them here so that everyone is familiar with the terminology and the principles behind them. The one that you will hear most frequently as an infantryman is "area fire", but the rest are also useful and good to know.

Point Fire

This is the most basic type of fire. In this, you see the enemy clearly enough to be able to aim at them directly and fire on them. The effectiveness of point fire depends on the sights, accuracy, and killing power of the weapon being used. Point fire is typically done at a deliberate pace, with each shot being aimed.

When an element is using point fire, it's typically done against a very visible target or group of targets that can be engaged with precision. An enemy squad ambushed in the open, for instance, would be an example of a situation where element-level point fire would be employed.

Point fire could also be used if a fireteam was trying to suppress and destroy one specific bunker/building/etc.

Point fire is the most common type of fire used in FPS games, and it almost never needs to be specifically called for by a leader.

Area Fire

This technique places a volume of fire on a specific area instead of a specific individual target. It can be used to place fire on enemy units that are obscurred, massed, or at such a range that point fire becomes slow and ineffective to use.

When an element is laying down area fire, each individual shooter aims at known, likely, or suspected locations of enemy soldiers - or at clusters of the enemy, in the case of using it against massed or distant targets - and sprays them with fire. The emphasis is on a concentrated, heavy volume of fire. The more bullets sent towards the enemy, the greater the chance one will hit its mark, and the more likely the enemy will become suppressed by the volume of fire.

Area fire is typically done at a faster pace than point fire, but not quite as fast or high-volume as suppression.

Leaders: Note that area fire will not always come naturally from an element and will frequently have to be specifically called for, especially when facing an obscured target

Indirect Fire

Indirect fire is simply fire that is placed on a target or location that is out of direct view of the gunner. Indirect fire can be used to cover "dead space" that is out of view of any direct-fire assets (ie machineguns, rifles, etc). At the platoon level, indirect fire typically comes from grenade-launching weapons like the Mk-19 Grenade Machinegun or the M203 grenade launcher. Mortars and artillery are the 'big brothers' of the M203 and Mk19 when it comes to indirect fire. One great aspect of indirect fire is that the enemy has a much harder time returning fire - the source is more difficult to locate, and even after location the enemy cannot use direct-fire weapons and must rely either on indirect assets or movement towards the source of the fire.

Suppressive Fire

This is the act of putting a high volume of fire on an enemy position to prevent them from being able to return effective fire. Note that suppression is only effective if you can make the enemy believe that popping up to return fire is going to result in them getting hit or killed. You don't have to actually hit them, but you must make them think that you can and might if they don't take cover. Suppression can be used to "fix" an enemy force while another element moves around to their flank to catch them in their unprotected or otherwise vulnerable side.

Recon by Fire

Simple enough, this is where shots are placed into an area to try to flush out the enemy or get them to begin firing and thereby give away their positions. This is used when stealth is no longer a concern, obviously. Firing into a wheat field that may be hiding enemy forces is one example of recon by fire.

Pursuit by Fire

This is the process of "chasing" a retreating enemy not by physically following them, but rather by firing at them as they withdraw. Pursuit by fire can be used after taking an objective - you want to maintain a hold on the newly-secured area, and thus you 'pursue' any retreating enemies with small-arms fire instead of physically following them.

Types of Fire Relative to Targets

Hopefully this diagram says it all. "Enfilade" fire is simply fire that coincides with the long axis of the target. Flanking fire is hitting a target in the side. Oblique fire is hitting it from an angle, whereas frontal fire is hitting it - you guessed it - from the front. Flanking, oblique, and frontal fire can become enfilade fire simply based upon the orientation of the enemy formation relative to the shooter's position.

Enfilade fire is the most damaging sort - in it, the gunner only has to make small adjustments to his fire to engage multiple targets, and rounds that miss one enemy may very well hit another one further back in the formation.

Dead Space & Defilade

Dead space is defined as "an area within the range of a weapon that cannot be covered by fire
due to intervening obstacles, the contour of the ground, or the
trajectory of the weapon" (CCMW).

The key thing to remember about dead space is that it needs to be covered in some capacity when defending - either by indirect fire (M203 grenadiers, mortars, artillery) or the defense must be situated such that it renders the benefit of the dead space null and void (ie by ensuring that machineguns are covering the exits of a draw).

When on the attack, "dead space" becomes "defilade" - meaning that it acts as protection from enemy direct fire and observation.

Relevant Military Pubs

Download

Rifle Marksmanship
US Marine Corps, MCRP 3-01A

Basic Marine rifle marksmanship. This covers all sorts of things that relate to effectively engaging targets with a basic ironsighted rifle.

How Not To Get Shot

After all, you are too young to die

There are a number of things to keep in mind when trying to not get shot yet still be effective against the enemy. Previously covered was "Situational Awareness", one of the most important factors in avoiding an untimely death. This section will deal with everything else that can help to keep you breathing for as long as humanly possible.

Basic Movement Techniques

How an individual moves around the battlefield is the most important aspect of "Not Getting Shot". Proper movement will keep you alive, whereas sloppy movement tends to result in forcibly being ventilated by very small, very fast moving objects.

Move from cover to cover, or concealment to concealment. If you're under fire, do so in short rushes. Ensure that you know where you're going next before you start to move so that you don't get caught out in the open without a clue.

Keep good interval. Bunching up gets people killed. Try to keep at least five meters between yourself and any other players whenever possible. Ten meters is even better. Doing this will help to minimize the impact of enemy artillery, grenades, mines, other explosives, and the initial burst of fire from a surprise contact.

Conserve your stamina. If the situation isn't urgent, avoid sprinting. There is a tendency for players to sprint all over the place, regardless of the tactical situation. Inevitably this ends up getting people killed, since they tend to run into enemies after an extended sprint and thus cannot aim effectively due to the stamina penalties. Everyone should work on reserving their stamina for situations where it is desperately needed, such as an ambush, sniper fire, or any other time when getting the hell out of dodge takes priority over everything else. Jogging can be done indefinitely without penalty to the player, whereas sprinting starts off at a rapid rate, quickly builds up your breathing to the point where your aim is quite shaky, and gradually slows your sprinting speed over time. So, when given the choice, jog or walk whenever possible. Not only will you live longer, but it'll make it that much easier for us to maintain decent interval and coverage of each other while moving towards enemy contact.

Take a knee at halts. Kneeling or crouching lowers your exposure, which makes it harder for someone to hit you from a distance. Get into the habit of taking a knee any time that you're halted for more than a second or two. If you expect to be stationary for a longer period of time, you may want to go prone and find cover or concealment.

Know where to go if the shit hits the fan. If you stay aware of your environment you should be able to instantly move towards cover or concealment if your team encounters unexpected contact.

I'm up, they see me, I'm down. The basic "individual rush" consists of jumping up, sprinting forward a bit, and then diving prone. Throwing in a roll after hitting the deck will help to throw off the enemy's aim, and will be very effective if you're rolling in tall grass or with concealment nearby. When doing a proper individual rush, the enemy will only have a few moments to see you, sight in on you, and attempt to shoot you. The "diving prone" at the end of each rush can also help to confuse the enemy as to whether he shot you or not. Having a fireteam moving via individual rushes presents many short-exposure targets that are difficult to engage, and this method can be very successful at keeping a team alive while still making headway with movement.

Walk when the situation warrants it. Walking allows you to keep your weapon up and ready to fire, and allows you to move slowly, deliberately, and with a great deal of caution. Walking is the standard movement mode when in urban or otherwise tight environments. It allows for a very high level of situational awareness and movement coordination to be acheived.

Don't skyline yourself. Skylining is mainly a concern when playing against humans, as the AI do not appear to recognize it. Skylining is simply silhouetting yourself against the sky - this can happen when walking on the top of a piece of terrain that is higher in elevation than the enemy. If you absolutely must cross a ridge and think the enemy might be looking that way, go prone and try to cross the ridge where vegatation provides some amount of concealment.

If you take fire and go prone, rolling to the side once before trying to return fire can help to throw off the enemy's aim. The concealing effects of grass or brush can make this effective at longer ranges or in cluttered terrain.

Rolling, especially in grass, can throw an enemy's aim off when you're being fired on from a distance.

Cover vs Concealment

The first rule of "not being shot" is ensuring that the enemy either cannot see you or cannot hit you, or both.

You will find that your primary goal on the battlefield is to find positions from which you have the most protection from enemy fire or observation yet also are able to put effective fires on the enemy . To do this, you will have to know the difference between 'cover' and 'concealment' and how to best take advantage of either.

You should strive to always be in cover or concealment when combat is ongoing. If the enemy cannot visually locate you, he will not be able to accurately shoot at you. Even if he does know where you are, hard cover can prevent him from effectively engaging you.

Concealment is anything that keeps the enemy from seeing you. Typically this comes in the form of brush, bushes, thin sheet metal or wood, and other materials that are easily penetrated by bullets.

Proper concealment. Yes, someone is hidden in that bush.

Example of concealment that is NOT cover. Note that almost all rifle rounds will pass through these structures with ease.

Cover, on the other hand, is anything that keeps the enemy from hitting you with his fire. Anything solid enough to stop a bullet works - this includes tree trunks, brick walls, vehicle hulks, etc. Bear in mind that cover is only effective based upon what is being fired at you. While a brick wall might protect you from machinegun fire, an RPG or tank HEAT round will make a mess of you in short order.

Unlikely cover. The bottom part of this fence is stone, which will protect you from fire. The chain link part is obviously not going to stop a bullet, however, so this is only effective if the enemy is on the same level of terrain as you.

When on the move, keep your eyes peeled for cover and concealment that's within easy reach. Try to move yourself (or your element) in such a way that you're concealed as much as possible, and whenever you're not, know how to get to concealment or cover at the first sign of enemy contact. Avoid crossing open areas devoid of cover or concealment whenever you can.

Tucking Into Cover & Sight Displacement

One critical thing to remember in ArmA is that, like in Flashpoint, the view you get from ironsight mode is offset down and to the right of your normal view. If you take this into consideration when utilizing cover, you can expose much less of your body.

Utilizing sight offset while taking cover behind a broken wall

The following illustrations show this off in various stances, using a building corner as cover. The same principle can be applied to any kind of cover - lamp posts, tree trunks, vehicles - and can significantly improve your odds of survival when used correctly.

Remember, if your ass is hanging out, it will get shot off.

Standing, taking advantage of sight offset to minimize exposure

Crouched, taking advantage of sight offset to minimize exposure

Prone, taking advantage of sight offset to minimize exposure

Leaning

ArmA's default lean is set up as an upper-torso lean which allows you to shoot around cover while keeping an even larger amount of your body protected from fire. The fact that you can lean and move at the same time is quite useful, as it allows you to position yourself exactly how you'd like in the least amount of time possible.

The following illustrations show off how you can tuck in to cover and fire around it with minimal exposure to return fire. Note that, unlike with the non-lean versions, the legs and torso no longer are exposed as targets.

Remember that peeking in and out from cover will be less effective against human players - if you keep peeking out from the same position, with the same stance, the enemy may predict your pattern and have a bullet waiting for you next time you pop out. Try to alternate standing/crouching leans when possible, or find another position to fire from if you think they're starting to zero in on you.

Accuracy and Exposure by Stance

The level of accuracy that you are able to acheive with your weapon is based upon the stance you take. Standing is the least stable stance, with crouched being more stable, and prone being the most.

You should get in the habit of taking a knee whenever firing at medium or long ranges, and even closer ranges if the situation permits. The benefit of taking a knee is twofold - one, you increase your accuracy. Two, you decrease your profile. The smaller you make yourself, the harder it is for the enemy to hit you. Simple stuff.

When it comes to firing on the move, you can do it either when standing or crouched. Standing is the most stable in this case, whereas crouching and moving while trying to aim will tend to tire you out fast and increase your weapon waver due to the lowered stamina. Use the 'walk' feature to go into a "combat glide", in which you walk smoothly and are able to keep your weapon up and at the ready. The changes that have been made to how ArmA deals with weapon movement relative to the player's eyepoint make it much more practical to move with your weapon up and sighted than it was in Operation Flashpoint.

Walking forward with weapon ready

Crouch-walking forward with weapon ready

Firing from Apertures/Windows

If you're using a window or similar as a firing aperture, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Stay as far inside the room as you can get and still be effective. You want to try to position yourself so that your muzzle does not extend out to where others can see it. You also want your muzzle flash and muzzle smoke to be inside the room as much as possible.

The further you are from the window, the less area you will be able to observe, but the more protected you will be.

Go prone if you need to move around a room. Excessive movement when standing will only telegraph your position changes to the enemy. This can be catastrophic if a sniper is observing you.

Crouch if you are engaging enemies at a mid to long range and can do so without the windowsill obstructing your line of fire.

A fairly standard look at firing out of a window. Crouching is useful when the enemy is at mid to long range.

Stand if the enemy is close and crouching is no longer feasible. If you stay tucked in to the windowsill properly, you should fare well.

Firing from the standing position. This is useful if the enemy is at closer ranges.

Always try to position yourself at and look out from the left side of a window, so that only your rifle and part of your body is visible. Placing yourself on the left side of the window means that, as a right-handed shooter, the majority of your body will be protected by the wall.

Vehicles as Cover

In a pinch, vehicles can be used to provide cover from enemy fire. The effectiveness of this depends largely upon the type of vehicle used - a motorcycle obviously isn't going to do anything for you aside from guarantee that the enemy gets a few laughs after they plug you full of holes, whereas the burned-out hulk of a T-72 will shield you from a great many things and potentially allow you to survive a situation that you otherwise wouldn't.

The basic guidelines to using vehicles as cover are as follows.

Get as far back as the situation allows. ArmA vehicles have a nasty tendency of exploding when heavily damaged, and you don't want this to take you out as well. The further the enemy is from you, the further back you can safely get from the vehicle. If they're close, you may have to tuck in pretty tightly and may just have to accept the risks that that brings.

Wheels act as good cover. Use them whenever possible. Depending on the elevation of the enemy relative to you, lying anywhere but behind the wheels may leave you vulnerable to their fire. Note also that ricochets in ArmA can complicate this process. In short, get behind a wheel or consider a hasty move to better cover.

If using a manned vehicle (ie light armor) as cover, ensure that you are not so close that sudden turning movements will injure or kill you. Make sure you communicate to the crew that you are nearby and they should be cautious when moving.

A good armored vehicle crew can use their vehicle to provide moving cover to infantry elements. This can be useful when approaching an enemy position from a direction that provides little natural cover or concealment. The primary thing to remember in such a situation is that the infantry should avoid bunching up behind the vehicle, as that can result in a number of less-than-desirable results like "getting pancaked" and "being blown to kibbles by the vehicle exploding".

Buddy Cover

When the shit has really hit the fan and things are unraveling at a rapid rate, keep in mind that your fallen comrades (as well as enemy KIAs) can literally save your life. If your team has been chewed apart by an ambush and you can't possibly run for cover without getting mowed down, try hunkering down behind a dead teammate (or enemy) and using his corpse as cover while you return fire on the enemy.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all. Believe it or not, but this technique has come in handy more than a few times in the past for me in OFP/WGL.

The TrackIR is a 6DOF (six degrees of freedom) head-tracking device that allows you to control your in-game view via natural head movements, scaled up to requires as much or as little movement as you want. If you'd like to see a video demo of the TrackIR5 in ArmA2, check this out.

I highly recommend looking into getting one of these if you're interested in ArmA2 or flight sims and driving games in general.

You really won't find any other upgrades out that will improve gaming immersion as dramatically as this.